Sermons by Tim Johnson

Episode 5 of Christianity Explored.
Having head knowledge about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection isn’t enough. Belief in Jesus, and acknowledging the need for grace because of our failures requires us to accept in our hearts, and voice that we need …

Episode 4 of Christianity Explored.
This week, Andy and Tim shift from looking just at the historical account of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus in the book of Mark, and begin looking at what that means for us today.
Send us your questions b…

Episode 3 of Christianity Explored.
This week, Andy and Tim continue looking through the biography of Jesus, written by Mark (the book of Mark in the bible). We investigate the claim that Jesus is not dead, but rose from the grave 3 days after his brut…

Episode 2 of Christianity Explored.
This week, Andy and Tim continue looking through the biography of Jesus, written by Mark (the book of Mark in the bible). We focus on the cross, and why it’s become such a central part of Christianity today.

Why is Good Friday called Good Friday? And how should we respond to the fullness of life that Jesus offers by sacrificing himself on the cross?
As Tim brings us the message he explores this very question: Could we even call it Joyful Friday? After all,…

This podcast exclusive mini-series encourages you to explore the person of Jesus, by looking through his biography, written by his follower Mark, as an eye witness to the life and teachings of Jesus. Andy and Tim explore the beginning of the book of Ma…

Over the past eight weeks we have looked at different aspects of our identity as followers of Jesus. But despite our new identity in Christ, not everything has been resolved. We still groan as we experience the effect sin has on both ourselves and th…

The topic of gender can be both a complicated and sensitive subject. After all, it forms a key part of many people’s identity. This week, Tim is back to tackle some difficult questions. What does the bible have to say about gender and how is it still r…

Through this series, we’ve seen how we as humans are made in God’s image, how we’re whole people with thoughts, emotions and a conscience, but also how there is a brokenness about humanity, and regardless of our race, nationality, age and gender, we ar…

I’ve got to break free, I’ve got to break free! – Queen, I Want To Break Free
‘Cause I need freedom now and I need to know how, to live my life as it’s meant to be – Mumford and Sons, The Cave
So what is freedom? What does it mean to break free? Is fre…

Are humans basically good, or basically bad? In the opening chapters of the bible, we see God create humanity, and proclaim them to be “very good”, and yet just two chapters later, we see Adam and Eve fall into temptation and eat from the tree of the k…

There is more to a person than just the physical impulses. Science would say that you and your personality, your memories, your decisions, are nothing more than electrical signals in your brain, reacting with nerve cells and molecules. The bible though…

What sets humanity apart from the animals? God made humans and animals; he gave them life. But humanity is importantly said to be made in the image of God. What does that mean? Can we find the image of God in the differences between humans and animals?…

This week begins a new series, running through the next 10 weeks, asking the questions “Who Am I?”. Throughout this series, we’ll be looking at passages from the entire story of the Bible, beginning this week with creation in Genesis.
Fundamentally, wh…

Throughout January, the talks at St John’s have taken a different format to usual, meaning they haven’t been appropriate for the format of a podcast. In this episode, Andy and Tim chat about what the teaching has been in January, and will catch you up …

You don’t have to look far in our world to see injustice. The plight of refugees being held in indefinite detention, or the impact of climate change on developing nations and the failure of wealthier nations to respond in a timely manner, or something …

Like Sam Johnson, who’s excited about his train set, and wants to show his dad, Andrew and Rosemary invite us to come and see how Jesus has been at work in their lives.
Coming from two very different life experiences – Andrew a staunch atheist, and Ros…

When making a decision, Christians often look for a sign from the Holy Spirit; a prompting, or a miraculous sign clearly saying “YES, GO THIS WAY”.
Even Paul though, facing a decision to return to Jerusalem, experienced the Spirit both encouraging him…

This passage in Acts is real history, with real people, and real events in time – a good reminder that the bible is about real people, and it is a historical account. But what do we do with this story? How do we learn from it and what can we take away …

During Paul’s journey through Asia Minor (Turkey) and Greece, he spent a long time in specific places – two years in Ephesus alone. While he was there, he would have worked his trade, making tents. The people of Ephesus, believing so strongly in the go…

We’ve all got stories of times we’ve failed in our lives. Whether it’s leaving the Salmon out of a Salmon Tortilla, or leaving $200 in cash in an ATM. Tim looks at the failure of Peter, one of the key leaders of the early church, when he denies knowing Jesus three times just as Jesus is arrested and crucified. Jesus knows our failures, he isn’t surprised by them, or unaware of them: he knows everything we’ve done in our lives. BUT Jesus knows about these failures, and forgives Peter, just as he forgives us, giving Peter a new life, with new purpose.
This biography of Peter’s failure and life serves as an introduction to our new series, Strangers Far From Home, looking through the book of 1 Peter, an open letter written by Peter to believers scattered throughout the world.

The final section of Paul’s letter to the Church in Philippi packs a whole bunch of great points into a pretty short section. Tim manages to squish seven talks worth of tips from Paul into just one! Paul gives us seven things to help us “stand firm” in Jesus. Both Paul and Jesus knew of the challenge that many people go through, with the burden of worry and anxiety. Paul speaks to this in his letter, and Tim lends his thoughts and experiences to the reality of anxiety in our lives.
If you or someone you know struggles with anxiety to an extreme, reach out to someone for help. You can always call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Our journey through Paul’s first-century letter to the church in Philippi continues this week, exploring a slightly unusual phrase: “…work out your salvation…”. Tim looks at what this phrase doesn’t mean, to try to understand what it does mean.
What do we do in our lives to ‘work out our salvation’? Tim offers a framework in his talk, which you can find here.

UPDATED: Apologies, as we originally used the wrong audio for this episode. Call it a lesson in humility.
Continuing our series through Paul’s letter to the Church in Philippi, Tim explores what Paul says about humility. Paul makes it clear that if you’re a Christian, you’ve received love and acceptance through Jesus, before you’ve done anything at all. Our reaction to that, though, our response to God for uniting himself with us, it to be united with others. If it’s true that we’re loved by God, we should be loving others. If we have the Spirit of God within us, we should be united with others through that same Spirit.
In response to Jesus, we necessarily need to live differently.